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When I attend a lecture-luncheon I look for two things when choosing my seat. The first is a seat at the edge of a table which helps with my claustrophobia and the second is the middle to back of the room. If I need to get up for any reason I don’t want to block people’s view of the speaker or meander around a bunch of tables to get to my destination.

Today, while attending one of these lecture-luncheons, a woman arrived late picked up a box lunch, and proceeded to find a seat at the back of the room only to spot a friend and then zigzagged around the other attendees, dropping her box lunch in the process, and finally settling at the table closest to the front of the room. She couldn’t have been more of a distraction if she tried! Finding a familiar face was worth the risk.

After all, isn’t that what all of us are seeking? To discover we are not alone.

This morning, as I was preparing to go to the office, I heard a sound; “Knock, Knock, Knock.” And again; “Knock, Knock, Knock.” I checked the front door and no one was there but the knocking continued. Then, as a wannabe Sherlock Holmes would do, I stood perfectly still and waited for the next, “Knock, Knock, Knock.” and began following the sound to the source. I did this until I was ear to wall with the front porch. The sound was definitely coming from the other side. I tried spying through the window blinds but could not get the right angle as the, “Knock, Knock, Knock” echoed through the house. I walked back to the front door opened it and the screen door as quietly as possible. I crept along the side porch until I could see a female Woodpecker, who also saw me, and flew away. She was knocking on a piece of scrap wood. About twenty-five feet away from this warped and splintered two by four is a giant Oak tree. I wondered why did the bird settle for a snack when she could’ve had a gourmet meal?

I also reflected on the truth that too often we settle for a trinket when there’s a treasure waiting, chase after worthless shiny objects when the most important things are there if we would alter our gaze. Wisdom tells us; “Don’t settle for scraps. Wait, keep searching, what you seek may be just around the corner.”